Ten Commandments display bill advances in Alabama House committee

MONTGOMERY, Ala. – A bill requiring public schools to display the Ten Commandments in classrooms advanced Wednesday without debate in the Alabama House Education Policy committee.

The measure would require schools to display a poster or framed copy of the Ten Commandments in some classrooms serving grades five through 12.

Rep. Mark Gidley, R-Hokes Bluff, said House Bill 216 is largely unchanged from a bill that passed the House last year.

“This is the identical bill with one simple change,” Gidley said, explaining that displays would be limited to classrooms where U.S. history is taught to students in fifth through 12th grades. 

It also requires the display to be posted in a common area like a cafeteria or library in all schools except those that serve kindergarten through fourth grade.

Gidley said the display, which the bill specifies must be a minimum of 11 inches by 14 inches, includes the Ten Commandments alongside references to historical documents he said influenced the nation’s founding.

“It has the Ten Commandments, plus a number of our historical references to the foundational principles on which our country was founded,” he said.

Gidley showed committee members a copy of the proposed poster.

The poster includes the Ten Commandments alongside text referencing historical documents including the Alabama Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, the U.S. Constitution, the Mayflower Compact and the Northwest Ordinance.

State Superintendent Eric Mackey, who attended the committee meeting, said state education officials were involved in earlier discussions about the legislation. The bill specifies that the poster must be approved by the State Superintendent of Education.

“I haven’t seen the most up-to-date version (of the bill), but the original version I was good with,” Mackey said. “We worked closely with the governor’s office and Rep. Mark Gidley and feel like it will meet muster. We don’t think it will even be challenged.”

The bill specifies that the displays would be provided through private donations.

“There is no fiscal requirement to the school,” Gidley said. “It’s all paid for with private funds.”

The vote comes weeks after the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals allowed a Louisiana law requiring Ten Commandments displays in classrooms to take effect while legal challenges continue. The court said it was too early to decide whether the law is constitutional because the displays had not yet been implemented.

Gidley’s bill now moves to the full House for consideration. 

The bill’s companion, Senate Bill 99, sponsored by Sen. Keith Kelley, R-Anniston, contains identical language and has cleared the Senate Education Policy committee, awaiting passage on the Senate floor.